Words Beats & Life is creating a future where freedom, liberation and radical love are the basis of our work, leading to a world of equity, inclusivity and respect for all by 2040. The Towards 2040: Creative Leaders Fellowship paves the path to this future, by selecting a cohort of fellows each year from 2022 through 2040. The inaugural fellowship launched in 2022 with five national fellows and year two continued with five fellows from the DC/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) region. Year three continues to focus on artists, arts administrators, cultural workers and community organizers based in the DMV.

Towards 2040: Creative Leaders Fellowship
Year Three

The Towards 2040: Creative Leaders Fellowship will recruit creative leaders from the hip-hop community who work as artists, arts administrators, cultural workers‌, arts educators, and community organizers based in the DC/Maryland/Virginia region. The selected fellows will participate in a 9-month fellowship program from November 2024 - July 2025 that includes:

• Monthly in-person creative solution sessions

• Skill development in organizational models, project design, fundraising, marketing‌ and organizing campaigns

• One-on-one mentoring

• Work on the 2025 Words Beats & Life Festival 

• $5,000 stipend for each fellow

Fellows will work collaboratively and individually in mutual learning sessions and on creative solutions towards a better 2040. Fellows will work towards the WBL Festival in April 2025 in Washington, DC.

Applications

Applications for Towards 2040: Creative Leaders Fellowship, Year Three are now closed.

What is our vision for the year 2040?

The Towards 2040 fellowship strives to enact meaningful change by 2040, using hip-hop as an outcome-driven, design-centered cultural practice to ensure justice and equality for all. Fellows are empowered to design systems, platforms and spaces that are accessible to everyone, guided by their mentors, collective learning, and skill building, they will transform their experience into solutions for the future.

Additional support is provided by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.